Dubbo Daily Leader:Mark Holden on Idol (D Mention)
Mar 26, 2007 18:16:28 GMT 10
Post by christyl on Mar 26, 2007 18:16:28 GMT 10
Monday 26 March: Dubbo Daily Leader
canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=lifestyle%20news&subclass=relax&story_id=566021&category=music
Auditions take Holden back in time
Nick Cook
Mark Holden remembers Dubbo as the scene of an incident almost as embarrassing as the time he didn't claim his Logie because he was in the bathroom.
"I came to Dubbo in 1975 when I was a folk singer, before I became the carnation boy pop star, as the support act for Brian Cadd," he says while sipping a bottle of water next to the Macquarie Street rotunda.
"I was singing with an acoustic guitar and he let me use his band as back up. We were at the Civic Centre and right in the middle of the set the band stopped playing and sang "Dubbo, Dubbo, Dubbo, Dubbo!" in three part harmony.
"I wasn't expecting it. I turned around to look at them and I fell off the stage."
That was the year before Mr Holden found fame with the King of Pop award for best newcomer and now he's returned in search of somebody else to put on the road to stardom.
For the first time Australian Idol has come to Dubbo and today young hopefuls will get the chance to face producers and Mr Holden to prove they have what it takes to be a star.
It's obvious that Mr Holden takes genuine pride in the show and sees it as an important part of the Australian music scene.
"We are the primary showcase for young talent," he says.
"We've filled a gap that was there. The record business is in really bad shape, the big companies are signing less acts and young people need a leg-up."
He continually brings the conversation back to artists who have had their start on Idol, speaking of Lisa Mitchell, Damien Leith and Shannon Noll as though he is a high school teacher and they are his high-achieving ex-students.
In fact, at times its hard to get him off the subject.
"As an older man I really get something tangible out of supporting and promoting young people," he says.
"I recommend to older people, whatever business you're in, as you get older and you've got all that experience you've gained, there's nothing better than imparting that and passing it on. It's a circle of life kind of thing. I get a lot of reward out of that part of it."
Outside Idol Mr Holden has taken a number of acts under his wing as a manager, including Vanessa Amarosi for who he wrote the hit song Absolutely Everybody.
Last year he divested his interest in his management and record company, a move he describes as "a disappointment, but that's life".
In its fifth year he still gets a big thrill out of Idol, partly because he can see himself in the faces of those who line up to perform for him.
"I look at them and I was that young person. When I did Showcase in 1974 it was Idol. I was the person who stands in line. I did stand in line. I came to the audition with my guitar in a rucksack on a motorbike. I didn't even have a guitar case."
He leans forward eagerly.
"I am those kids. I do feel a very real connection to them," he says.
canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=lifestyle%20news&subclass=relax&story_id=566021&category=music
Auditions take Holden back in time
Nick Cook
Mark Holden remembers Dubbo as the scene of an incident almost as embarrassing as the time he didn't claim his Logie because he was in the bathroom.
"I came to Dubbo in 1975 when I was a folk singer, before I became the carnation boy pop star, as the support act for Brian Cadd," he says while sipping a bottle of water next to the Macquarie Street rotunda.
"I was singing with an acoustic guitar and he let me use his band as back up. We were at the Civic Centre and right in the middle of the set the band stopped playing and sang "Dubbo, Dubbo, Dubbo, Dubbo!" in three part harmony.
"I wasn't expecting it. I turned around to look at them and I fell off the stage."
That was the year before Mr Holden found fame with the King of Pop award for best newcomer and now he's returned in search of somebody else to put on the road to stardom.
For the first time Australian Idol has come to Dubbo and today young hopefuls will get the chance to face producers and Mr Holden to prove they have what it takes to be a star.
It's obvious that Mr Holden takes genuine pride in the show and sees it as an important part of the Australian music scene.
"We are the primary showcase for young talent," he says.
"We've filled a gap that was there. The record business is in really bad shape, the big companies are signing less acts and young people need a leg-up."
He continually brings the conversation back to artists who have had their start on Idol, speaking of Lisa Mitchell, Damien Leith and Shannon Noll as though he is a high school teacher and they are his high-achieving ex-students.
In fact, at times its hard to get him off the subject.
"As an older man I really get something tangible out of supporting and promoting young people," he says.
"I recommend to older people, whatever business you're in, as you get older and you've got all that experience you've gained, there's nothing better than imparting that and passing it on. It's a circle of life kind of thing. I get a lot of reward out of that part of it."
Outside Idol Mr Holden has taken a number of acts under his wing as a manager, including Vanessa Amarosi for who he wrote the hit song Absolutely Everybody.
Last year he divested his interest in his management and record company, a move he describes as "a disappointment, but that's life".
In its fifth year he still gets a big thrill out of Idol, partly because he can see himself in the faces of those who line up to perform for him.
"I look at them and I was that young person. When I did Showcase in 1974 it was Idol. I was the person who stands in line. I did stand in line. I came to the audition with my guitar in a rucksack on a motorbike. I didn't even have a guitar case."
He leans forward eagerly.
"I am those kids. I do feel a very real connection to them," he says.
LISA MITCHELL
